Closing down a blast furnace steelworks is not as simple as turning the lights off and selling the assets. The costs of remediation run into billions, meaning we’d be spending even more money and getting nothing in return. Far better to work with the private sector to sort the problem.
An even more compelling reason to think again is economic security, a core pillar of our strategy to deliver growth. There are certain industries which we need for resilience. Once lost, sovereign capability in these sectors is impossible to recover. Automotive is one, steel is another. Both are under pressure from decarbonisation requirements in our export markets and aggressive Chinese competition. Incidentally, Nus Ghani, our Minister for Economic Security, is currently sanctioned by China.
Without significant Government support, there was a risk of closing Port Talbot altogether. All 8,000 Tata employees could have lost their jobs and an additional 12,500 in the supply chain.